Yorkshire were suspended from staging international matches on Thursday after the England and Wales Cricket Board condemned their “wholly unacceptable" handling of a racism row involving former player Azeem Rafiq, with ex-England captain Michael Vaughan later denying allegations he had abused his one-time team-mate.
The 30-year-old Rafiq accused Yorkshire of failing to deal adequately with his allegations of racism during his time with the English county.
In September, Yorkshire offered the Pakistan-born off-spinner “profound and unreserved apologies" in a report commissioned by the club into his allegations of racial abuse.
But last week Yorkshire said they would take no disciplinary action against any staff, unleashing a wave of criticism and prompting sponsors, including Nike, to turn their back on the club.
Now the ECB, who said they found this matter “abhorrent and against the spirit of cricket and its values", have stripped Headingley, Yorkshire’s headquarters in Leeds, of the right to stage a Test between England and New Zealand in June 2022, as well as a one-day international with South Africa in July.
“YCCC (Yorkshire County Cricket Club) are suspended from hosting international or major matches until it has clearly demonstrated that it can meet the standards expected of an international venue, ECB member and first-class county," said a board statement of a move that could cost the club millions of pounds in lost income.
The ECB added Gary Ballance, who admitted using a racial slur against Rafiq during their time together at Yorkshire, would be “suspended indefinitely" from England selection pending an investigation into his conduct, even though it is four years since the Zimbabwe-born batter last played international cricket.
There was a further dramatic development late Thursday when Vaughan, writing in his Daily Telegraph column, said the report states he told a group of Asian players, including Rafiq, before a match against Nottinghamshire in 2009: “Too many of you lot, we need to do something about it."
Vaughan, a “fan" of Rafiq, who said Yorkshire “have dealt with this terribly," added: “I completely and categorically deny that I ever said those words…I will fight to the end to prove I am not that person."
Earlier, Rafiq said the row was about “institutional racism and abject failures by numerous leaders at Yorkshire" and in the wider game.
“The sport I love and my club desperately need reform and cultural change," Rafiq posted on Twitter.
The row has drawn in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with his spokesman ramping up the pressure on the ECB prior to Thursday’s statement from English cricket’s governing body by saying: “The PM’s clear that racist language should never be used in any context whatsoever…We urge the ECB to look at this carefully."
Rafiq, Yorkshire’s chairman and the county’s chief executive and director of cricket, have all been summoned to testify before a parliamentary committee on November 16.
Ballance apologised for his conduct in a statement on Wednesday, saying: “I regret that I used this word in immature exchanges in my younger years.
“I have to be clear that this was a situation where best friends said offensive things to each other which, outside of that context, would be considered wholly inappropriate."
However, Rafiq on Thursday said that despite the condemnation of his treatment at Yorkshire, he was still the target of abuse.
‘Personal attacks’
“Even after everything that is out there, there seem to be personal attacks coming."
Ballance’s admission came after publishing company Emerald ended their title sponsorship of Headingley over handling a report that found Rafiq suffered “racial harassment and bullying" at the club, with other sponsors following suit.
Meanwhile, global sportswear giant Nike said: “Nike will no longer be the kit supplier for Yorkshire CCC."
Rafiq, who represented Yorkshire in two spells between 2008 and 2018, made 43 allegations and said he had been driven to thoughts of suicide by his treatment at the club.
Yorkshire’s redacted report upheld seven of his claims but concluded the club was not institutionally racist.
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